David Murray, the editor of Speechwriter’s Newsletter (or “Preachwriter’s Newsletter” as he humorously styled himself in his comment on my last post) has weighed in on the issue of preachers using canned sermons downloaded from the Internet.
Intriguingly, David sees the words of a CEO or a politician as “somewhat less central to their mission” than a preacher’s. David maintains that what a politician does – i.e., leadership or voting record – is more important than what a politician says.
(David is a young whippersnapper who is perhaps not old enough to remember when Sen. Joe Biden was forced to withdraw his candidacy for president in 1987 when it was revealed that he had stolen a speech word-for-word from British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.)
In contrast, David feels that speaking from the heart is central to a preacher’s calling.
I suspect that most of us feel the same way. But Bruce Johnson, who speaks with the authority of a man who was a minister himself for 15 years, disagrees. He says, “Not only does a preacher need to be a communicator, but also a CEO kind of leader, a manager, a counselor, a strategic thinker and planner, a community leader, a care giver, a worship leader, a creative genius, a problem solver and conflict manager, a peacemaker, a financial expert, a fund raiser, etc. Preaching is just one small part of a ‘preacher's life.’”
Furthermore, says Mr. Johnson, “Preachers don't have a choice if they want to keep an audience. And you know this from your speechwriting. What could have captured people's attention a decade or two ago, won't work any longer. Technology has changed all of that. It's similar to great food. If you've never had gourmet food, Bob's Big Boy works. But once you've been exposed to Michel Richard's Citronelle or Tom Colicchio's Grammery Tavern, Bob's Big Boy just doesn't cut it any longer. If a preacher wants to be effective these days, he’s got to be an edutainer.” [sic]
Is that what a preacher is today? An “edutainer”?
To be fair, I suppose we could take note of the fact that most of the teachings of Jesus have some down to us in the form of parables. And I don’t think it’s at all irreverent to suggest that Jesus was aware of the entertainment value of a good story. But He didn’t download his parables off the Internet.
I’m afraid it’s hard for me to regard church as just another entertainment option. In my rather lengthy reply to Bruce Johnson, I said something that I did not include in my last post.
So I’ll end with it here: “The rector of my own church (I’m Episcopalian) likes to remind his parishioners that they are not the audience on Sunday mornings. God is. That’s why it’s called worship.”
Amen.
